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A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty

Optical frequency combs—coherent light sources that connect optical frequencies with microwave oscillations—have become the enabling tool for precision spectroscopy, optical clockwork, and attosecond physics over the past decades. Current benchmark systems are self-referenced femtosecond mode-locked...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Huang, Shu-Wei, Yang, Jinghui, Yu, Mingbin, McGuyer, Bart H., Kwong, Dim-Lee, Zelevinsky, Tanya, Wong, Chee Wei
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4846450/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27152341
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501489
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author Huang, Shu-Wei
Yang, Jinghui
Yu, Mingbin
McGuyer, Bart H.
Kwong, Dim-Lee
Zelevinsky, Tanya
Wong, Chee Wei
author_facet Huang, Shu-Wei
Yang, Jinghui
Yu, Mingbin
McGuyer, Bart H.
Kwong, Dim-Lee
Zelevinsky, Tanya
Wong, Chee Wei
author_sort Huang, Shu-Wei
collection PubMed
description Optical frequency combs—coherent light sources that connect optical frequencies with microwave oscillations—have become the enabling tool for precision spectroscopy, optical clockwork, and attosecond physics over the past decades. Current benchmark systems are self-referenced femtosecond mode-locked lasers, but Kerr nonlinear dynamics in high-Q solid-state microresonators has recently demonstrated promising features as alternative platforms. The advance not only fosters studies of chip-scale frequency metrology but also extends the realm of optical frequency combs. We report the full stabilization of chip-scale optical frequency combs. The microcomb’s two degrees of freedom, one of the comb lines and the native 18-GHz comb spacing, are simultaneously phase-locked to known optical and microwave references. Active comb spacing stabilization improves long-term stability by six orders of magnitude, reaching a record instrument-limited residual instability of [Formula: see text]. Comparing 46 nitride frequency comb lines with a fiber laser frequency comb, we demonstrate the unprecedented microcomb tooth-to-tooth relative frequency uncertainty down to 50 mHz and 2.7 × 10(−16), heralding novel solid-state applications in precision spectroscopy, coherent communications, and astronomical spectrography.
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spelling pubmed-48464502016-05-05 A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty Huang, Shu-Wei Yang, Jinghui Yu, Mingbin McGuyer, Bart H. Kwong, Dim-Lee Zelevinsky, Tanya Wong, Chee Wei Sci Adv Research Articles Optical frequency combs—coherent light sources that connect optical frequencies with microwave oscillations—have become the enabling tool for precision spectroscopy, optical clockwork, and attosecond physics over the past decades. Current benchmark systems are self-referenced femtosecond mode-locked lasers, but Kerr nonlinear dynamics in high-Q solid-state microresonators has recently demonstrated promising features as alternative platforms. The advance not only fosters studies of chip-scale frequency metrology but also extends the realm of optical frequency combs. We report the full stabilization of chip-scale optical frequency combs. The microcomb’s two degrees of freedom, one of the comb lines and the native 18-GHz comb spacing, are simultaneously phase-locked to known optical and microwave references. Active comb spacing stabilization improves long-term stability by six orders of magnitude, reaching a record instrument-limited residual instability of [Formula: see text]. Comparing 46 nitride frequency comb lines with a fiber laser frequency comb, we demonstrate the unprecedented microcomb tooth-to-tooth relative frequency uncertainty down to 50 mHz and 2.7 × 10(−16), heralding novel solid-state applications in precision spectroscopy, coherent communications, and astronomical spectrography. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2016-04-22 /pmc/articles/PMC4846450/ /pubmed/27152341 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501489 Text en Copyright © 2016, The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) , which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Huang, Shu-Wei
Yang, Jinghui
Yu, Mingbin
McGuyer, Bart H.
Kwong, Dim-Lee
Zelevinsky, Tanya
Wong, Chee Wei
A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
title A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
title_full A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
title_fullStr A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
title_full_unstemmed A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
title_short A broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
title_sort broadband chip-scale optical frequency synthesizer at 2.7 × 10(−16) relative uncertainty
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4846450/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27152341
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501489
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